Telefonica Brazil to lay off 1,500 as result of Vivo Participacoes deal

Telefonica Brazil, the Brazilian subsidiary of Spain's Telefonica (NYSE: TEF), will be handing out pink slips to 1,500 employees in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro now that its merger with Vivo Participacoes SA is complete.

According to a post on the website of Sao Paulo state telecommunications workers union Sindicato dos Trabalhadores em Telecomunicacoes no Estado de Sao Paulo, Telefonica initially planned to lay off more staff.

However, the union was able to reduce the amount of job losses and obtained a benefits package for those employees who were affected by the cuts. The job cuts affected about 8 percent of the service provider's total workforce of 18,885 as of December 2011.